In frequency division multiplexing (FDM), a method that is frequently employed by for example wireless communication systems, multiple signals are sent out at the same time, but in different frequencies. In OFDM, a single transmitter transmits on many (typically dozens to thousands) different orthogonal frequencies. These frequencies are also referred to as sub-carriers, the totality of available sub-carriers forming an OFDM spectrum.
The sub-carriers can be regarded as radio resources that are used in FDM systems for transmission of data between a base station and the mobile terminals served by the base station. In that sense, the FDM spectrum can be regarded as a plurality of radio resources of which some will be selected out for communication with a particular mobile terminal. As another example, the plurality of radio resources relate to a plurality of codes is in code division multiplexing (CDMA).
A (geographical) transmission area for transmission of the radio resources is sub-divided into a number of transmission cells, wherein each of them being served by a respective base station or node B. Mobile terminals, e.g. user equipments or mobile stations, present inside the transmission cells are allocated resources, i.e. radio resources, for communication inside the transmission system. The allocation of the radio resources is controlled by the base station. The allocation of the resources has to be signaled to each mobile terminal.
It is an object of the invention to provide an alternative method of signaling to a mobile terminal the radio resources that will be used in a wireless communication between the mobile terminal and the base station serving the mobile terminal.